Ayanda Ngila speaking at a meeting

Ayanda Ngila (1992–2022), was a land activist, a prominent leader in the shack dweller's movement Abahlali baseMjondolo^[1][2] and deputy chairperson of its eKhenana Commune.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} He was assassinated on 8 March 2022.^[8]

Arrest

The eKhenana Commune, a well known branch of the social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, has been the target of repression for many years.^[9] In March 2021, Ayanda Ngila along with three other leaders of the movement, Lindokuhle Mnguni, Landu Shazi and Maphiwe Gasela, were arrested and charged with murder.^[10] They were held without bail for six months. While in prison Ngila participated in a reading group that read work by thinkers like Paulo Freire and Frantz Fanon.^[11]

The state withdrew charges against all four leaders on 1 October 2021 after admitting that it had no evidence against any of them. The arrests were part of a string of arrests of other Abahlali baseMjondolo leaders including Nokuthula Mabaso and Mqapheli Bonono, which have widely been referred to as politically motivated.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

Retired Anglican bishop for KwaZulu-Natal, Rubin Phillip, reacted with concern at what he deemed to be another instance of false arrest of Abahlali baseMjondolo members. The Socio-Economic Rights Institute criticised the National Prosecuting Authority for not ensuring that Ngila and his co-accused received their constitutional right to a speedy bail application process. University of Johannesburg professor Jane Duncan noted the way the criminal justice system was being abused to break the community.^[17]

Assassination

Ngila was assassinated on 8 March 2022 by four attackers, while on his way to fix a water pipe at the eKhenana Commune, in Cato Manor, Durban, South Africa.^[18][19][20] His murder, which also targeted the settlement's chairperson, Lindokuhle Mnguni, is said to have been carried out by hit-men linked to the local taxi industry and local political leaders in the African National Congress.^{[21][22][23][24]}

Khaya Ngubane, the son of a local ANC politician, was later arrested for Ngila's murder. Nokuthula Mabaso, a state witness in Ngila's assassination was herself shot and killed on 5 May 2022.^[25][26] After Mabaso was killed, Ngubane was denied bail.^[27] On 20 August 2022 the second key witness in Ngila's murder, Lindokuhle Mnguni was also assassinated.^[28][29]

Reaction

The assassination was widely condemned by South African and internationally including in a widely publicised letter from over 130 civil society organisations.^[30] Prominent public interest law firm, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI), called on the Minister of Police and the South African Human Rights Commission to investigate his assassination.^[31][32]

The international human rights organisations that issued statements of concern included the Kairos Center in New York,^[33] the Habitat International Coalition,^[34] the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights^[35] and Frontline Defenders. ^[36]

The assassination of Abahlali baseMjondolo activists, including Ngila, was discussed at the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2022.^[37]

The assassination was also condemned by a host of popular organisations across Africa including the eSwatini republican movement PUDEMO^[38] whose leader attended Ngila's funeral, the Socialist Movement of Ghana^[39] the South African Federation of Trade Unions as well as the largest trade union in the country, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa.^[40][41][42]

Conviction of the assassin

On 17 July 2023, Khayalihle Gwabuzela (known as Khaya Ngubane), was found guilty of the murder of Ayanda Ngila in the Durban High Court.^[43] He was handed down a sentence of fifteen years imprisonment.^[44]

See also

• Nokuthula Mabaso
• Lindokuhle Mnguni

Notes and references

See also

• Abahlali baseMjondolo
• List of unsolved murders
• Political assassinations in post-apartheid South Africa
• Political repression in post-apartheid South Africa
• List of assassinated human rights activists